Shoot, Print, And Frame A Massive Peter Lik Style Photograph On A Budget

If you have seen Peter Lik's work in person then you understand that it's impossible to put into words the look and quality of his prints. Peter's photography (and his post production) is fantastic, but what really makes his work stand out is his printing and presentation. If his images were printed on standard photo paper at a standard size, his work would not have the same "wow" factor.

Right before a trip to Italy I went back into Peter's studio for a little inspiration. After studying his work and speaking with a sales rep about his printing process I decided to shoot, print, and frame a shot in Italy for the absolute cheapest price without losing the "wow" factor that Peter's work has. This is how I did it.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/28601516

Today it is so easy to stitch images together that you could shoot a picture like this with practically any camera with manual control and the more images you take, the more megapixels the final prodcut will be. Don't think that you have to have some ultra expensive camera to get quality images. I went to Italy with only 1 camera (D7000) and 1 lens (Sigma 17-50mm). If I had brought a longer lens I could have zoomed in more and taken even more pictures for a higher megapixel image but I was so far away (and I could only zoom to 50mm) so only 3 images fit. 3, 16mp images combined into one made for one ultra sharp image though.

The metallic print from BayPhoto.com really did look like it was printed on metal and it definitely has that "backlit" look that people say Lik's work has. The print in the video can not come close to the way that it actually looks in person. As I said at the end of the video, this paper looks fantastic but it is so reflective it has to be perfectly flat to look it's best. I would highly suggest bringing your print to a professional, getting them to mount it on gatorboard and then using the mirror for something else (it actually is a really nice mirror).

I hope you guys enjoyed this video. It is very different than our other stuff but we thought we would give it a try. We are really ramping up our video production and in the near future we hope to bring you an original video each week.

Very nice Lee ! I have 3 question here :
1. Why dont you use an anti static gloves while you taped the picture ?
2. If you put a thin plexyglass in front of the picture would it be better or not ?
3. Are there different kind of metallic paper ?
Just a tip i hear from my friends, sometimes they bought an used frame or mirror in flea market, polish or paint it then you have your new frame for your picture :)
Thank you !!!

I know you were posting a budget minded clip, but if you want the ultimate in flatness, I suggest mounting on aluminum and finish it with a protective lamination and a wood liner on the back side to hang it. My friends at Weldon Color Lab http://www.weldoncolorlab.com do this and more. They also make spectacular Lightjet prints onto most popular papers including my favorite - Fuji Flex. They're not a budget lab, but the attention to detail down to the packaging is very fastidious.

Great job Lee! I'll definitely be doing something like this in near future. I like to get my frames at Ikea as they are pretty inexpensive and are always the same and I can keep a unison flow with my frames instead each being different. Are there any pros or cons to printing large format photos like that on a glossy vs matte paper?

A few years ago, I made photographs of 48 airplane cockpits with a technical camera (4x5 inch slidefilm). I scanned the slides and had them printed on Kodak Metallic Paper. These were used for some exhibits. The result is really amazing! Although, you can not see the result on the web; I want to share some pictures with you: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulvancaesbroeck/sets/72157627097505465/.

everyday i come to fstoppers and find something inspiring, creative and very useful..... thank you for maintaining such a high level of dedication to this site, and opening our eyes to so many facets of this industry....... you guys are top shelf in my book.

Can you even have a Kodak ENDURA Metallic print mounted on Gator Board? Does anyone think this is good or bad idea? Not sure if it applies but they do list a 25 percent discount on first time orders so anyone like me who has not used Bay photo could save even more.